The house is located near Deggendorf in the foothills of the Eastern Bavarian Central Mountains. The municipality has historically held an important position in Bavaria and is today a centre for the timber trade of the Bavarian forest and the seat of several mills, stonemasonries, potteries and other industrial establishments.
Rindberg is spatially characterised by a unified building mass adapting to the uneven terrain by either following the topography or crossing it perpendicularly. A small chapel and a fire pond define the centre of the community, with buildings branching out along a main street running the length of the mountain ridge and a secondary, more intimate street, following the curvature of the brow.
The property, originally pasture lands, occupies approximately 1,5 acres of meadowland on the Northern edge of the village. The pocket of land constitutes a natural growth for the village, up the steep mountain that has given it’s name to the community.
Situated 520 meters above sea level and rising an additional 25 meters, the site holds broad views of the Alpine Foreland with the snow covered peaks acting as a backdrop to the South. To the West, the Danube river flows through an expansive rolling agricultural landscape, underlined by the village roofscape and ending behind the rocky mixed forest of the Bavarian Forest National Park to the East.
To maintain the intimate atmosphere of the village, the new addition is situated on the southern part of the property between ancient solid-timber buildings set on stone foundations, weathered larch-clad agricultural buildings and mature broad-leaved trees.
A wall to the South connects to an oak fence that runs around the entire perimeter of the property, keeping the grazing sheep from wandering away while not obstructing the visual connection. The surrounding meadow is kept by the animals and apart from an assortment of fruit trees further up on the site, the land remains unfarmed and lush.
The brief for the house was developed from the clients ideas about the spatial organisation, through volume studies in a large model of the site and neighbouring village. On the basis of this study, the clients formulated a short and precise list of wishes:
1. The house should be a building in three stories, to hold the view of the Alps in the distance.
2. The house should be a timber building, making equal use of modern cross laminated timber technology as well as local architectural and craftsmanship traditions.
3. Each floor of the house should have four large openable windows, facing each of the cardinal directions, providing a distinct identity to each room.
Location: Lower Bavaria, Germany
Status: Planning
Gross Internal Area: 210 + 60 m2
Materials: Larch, Pine CLT, Concrete
Engineer: Eiler Holzbau
HC Hansen Image: Seier + Seier
Images: Kolman Boye Architects